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FAIRBURN—On opening day Aug. 14, faculty and staff at Our
Lady of Mercy High School welcomed and gladly began serving the educational
needs of founding students from across the south side of metro Atlanta.
With only 28 students enrolled in June, Our Lady of Mercy had a
surge of summer applicants after the archdiocese reopened enrollment at both
new Catholic high schools to sophomores in June, increased publicity and
offered partial scholarships to students at both schools for the first two
years.
Our Lady of Mercy opened with 56 freshmen and 29 sophomores
primarily from Fulton, Clayton and Fayette counties. The racially diverse
student body, with African-Americans comprising 44 percent and whites 55
percent of the student body, is 70 percent Catholic, according to Principal
John Cobis. The school will add one grade yearly and is designed to serve up to
500 students. This year’s sophomores will be the first senior class.
Our Lady of Mercy and Blessed Trinity High School, which opened
Aug. 17 in Roswell, were financed in part through the archdiocesan
“Building the Church of Tomorrow” Capital Campaign, held in 1997.
They join St. Pius X High School, Atlanta, as archdiocesan high schools. Our
Lady of Victory Elementary School in Tyrone and two other new elementary
schools also opened last fall.
Cobis was appointed principal July 1, succeeding Sister Dawn Gear,
GNSH, who had done preparatory work for the new school. Having worked
previously as the principal of Our Lady of Lourdes School, Atlanta, the dean of
students at St. Pius X High School, and principal of Pacelli High School in
Columbus, Cobis said he is relieved the school year has started.
“We’ve had a few difficulties to deal with, but
everything is going well now. We have a great student body and a great faculty
and it looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun,” he said Aug. 15.
“Sister Dawn had laid a lot of the groundwork, but there’s still an
awful lot of things to get done quickly. It’s been an interesting
challenge.”
Cobis described the 10 faculty members as “very dedicated,
very enthusiastic about Catholic education in particular.”
“Most have taught in other situations and they do appreciate
being in a Catholic school.”
The school offers a comprehensive, college preparatory curriculum
including English, religion, mathematics, science, social studies, foreign
language, computer technology, music, art, band, chorus, physical education and
health, with journalism to be added in the next school year. With the presence
of school chaplain Father Paul Burke, the school, entrusted to the patronage of
Our Lady of Mercy, will offer daily Mass and students will complete 30 hours
yearly of community service.
The facility, which cost approximately $20 million to build
including land acquisition, was completed in August on a 54-acre site in north
Fayette County on Highway 279. Hussey, Gay, Bell & DeYoung International of
Savannah designed the facility and the general contractor was Batson-Cook Co.
of Atlanta. In addition to capital campaign funds, a $20.035 million bond issue
by the archdiocese funded the construction of Our Lady of Mercy.
Current facilities include 20 classrooms; a chapel; cafeteria;
media center/library; learning lab; two computer labs; art lab; four science
labs; a 450-seat auditorium; specialized band, choral and dance/drama rooms;
space for campus ministry and guidance programs; and two courtyards. The school
is extensively equipped with desktop and laptop computers.
As the first days unfolded, students and teachers had half-days of
classes where they came together as a community. In sophomore English, teacher
Virginia McCullough, who will also teach French, reviewed the class reading
list and upcoming writing assignments Aug. 15. Having taught for 11 years in
public schools, she’s eager for the opportunity to teach more morality
along with literature and to include religious aspects, like French Christmas
customs, which she wasn’t always able to add before. And she’s
excited to join the Mercy team.
“I think they’re (the faculty) all wonderful. (Mr.
Cobis) is open to suggestions and he’s very organized. He likes the kids.
When he’s with the kids, he’s a presence,” she said.
“Everything is focused on education both spiritually and otherwise for
Catholics and non-Catholics. His emphasis is ... we’re family and he wants
that. He wants this to be a community. That’s an incredible difference
between this and public school ... Parents are an important factor and
he’s going to connect with them very well. He has an open door policy to
his office.”
One of her students, Kristin Chambers of Peachtree City, said that
while it was tough to leave old classmates behind, she decided to attend Our
Lady of Mercy after hearing good things about private schools.
“I’m hoping I’ll get better grades and I’ll
try harder here. I can do more sports; it’s harder to do a lot at a public
school because there are so many people trying out and it’s
overcrowded,” she said. “I think it’s really great because
we’ll be the first graduating class and that’s really cool.”
As a Baptist, she’s open to Catholicism, having many Catholic
friends with whom she sometimes attends Mass. “I think it will help to
bring me closer to God because my grandparents are really religious. They
always talk about it and my friends do.”
Ralph Woolfolk of Atlanta, a football quarterback, was also eager
to crack the books, admitting that he already “loves this school.” He
senses an accepting environment and added that he has never been to such a
racially diverse school. “It’s just nice to be around all types of
people.”
He also appreciates Father Burke’s presence on campus because
“sometimes you need to go and talk to somebody about stuff.”
Woolfolk’s physical education teacher, Lee McDermott, said
that in addition to football, other “Bobcat” sports being offered are
cross country, soccer, track, basketball, baseball, tennis, golf, swimming,
wrestling, volleyball and cheerleading. In physical education, he hopes
eventually to offer advanced weightlifting and sports medicine.
The athletic facilities include three tennis courts, a track and
field event area, a gymnasium, regulation-size fields for football, track,
soccer, softball/baseball and tennis and a 1,000-seat lighted stadium.
“We have the facilities, the equipment and coaches. Right
now, we’re really looking for participation,” he said. “With
speaking with the kids and parents, we’re not going to have any trouble
filling these sports. A lot of the kids don’t have experience in these
sports. This is their first time. That gives them the opportunity to try these
sports and participate when they may not have gotten that in public
school.”
He’s confident not only about the growth of sports, but of
the whole school.
“(Our Lady of Mercy’s) better than I thought it would
be. You can see the kids are a little bit apprehensive but willing to take a
challenge on, willing to go down a path no one has been down and make
history.”
McDermott can count on freshman Cathleen McKernan in athletics.
“I’m going to be in as many sports as I can because I love playing. I
love volleyball,” she said, adding that she hopes she can remember to do
her homework with the school’s block scheduling of classes.
While she came to Our Lady of Mercy because “my parents made
me” and misses public school, this energetic teen sports a positive
attitude.
“It’s a really cool school and it’s really nice and
clean. Everyone is nice. It will help me (religiously). I wasn’t too
involved with my church and everything but probably now I will be,”
McKernan said.
For Cobis, who left behind a job as principal at his alma mater in
Colum-bus, opening Mercy was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“I had enjoyed working in the diocese before. I felt like it
was a great situation.”
The principal said that at the top of his agenda are getting
academic and extracurricular programs established, hiring top-quality teachers
for next year and establishing a development program to ensure the
school’s financial future. Late enrollment may have had teachers
scrambling to get schedules ready, he said, but “any pains we have are
growing pains. Those are the kind to have.”
And while it’s a blessing to start small, he said increasing
next year’s enrollment is a top priority and that it would have been
higher this year if the school had been advertised earlier. Tours of the school
can be arranged and an open house will be held Nov. 5.
“We’d like to at least double (enrollment) for next year
or more. We just think that word of mouth from parents and the community will
do a great deal to encourage people to apply. Also we’ve gotten great
support from pastors on the south side.”
The racial diversity is “beautiful and it really represents
the church on the south side,” he said. In addition to the excellence of
holistic Catholic education, he feels the school’s smaller size is an
asset.
“It allows you to develop more intimacy with students, better
understanding of them, getting to know them better and so it virtually requires
they get involved in a variety of activities.”
Cobis’ mission at Our Lady of Mercy is to create a
faith-filled community where “I’d like our students to leave very
well prepared spiritually, intellectually and physically for the challenges
facing adults and to be willing to be Christian leaders once they leave.”
Extracurricular activities “are just another classroom,
another vehicle for the development of our students,” he said.
“The biggest challenge is developing a sense of community
among the faculty and students. It’s really one of the biggest things that
sets a Catholic school apart, but it takes time to develop,” he added.
Community worship will help form those ties. Father Burke
celebrated Mass in the chapel for the feast of the Assumption Aug. 15 for
interested students and teachers. Steve McDowell of Fayetteville joined his son
Aaron, saying he plans to attend Mass with him there one morning a week.
Aaron McDowell said he’s nervous about meeting people and
finding his way to his classes, but is glad to be a Bobcat. For his father, the
school is a true blessing. Before construction of Our Lady of Mercy and Our
Lady of Victory Elementary School, which his other son attends, McDowell’s
family thought about moving closer to St. Pius X High School so the boys could
go there.
“We believe in Catholic education and making the spiritual
component of one’s faith and education a part of everything you do,”
he said. “I think too often religion and the rest of your life, work life,
are treated separately and that shouldn’t be.”
McDowell acknowledged that sending his children to a Catholic
school involves sacrifices. “It’s a challenge financially, but
it’s more than worth it. It’s the right thing to do and we want this
for our children.”
Tuition at the new high schools is $6,500 a year and scholarships
of $750 from a multi-foundation scholarship fund are available to assist
students enrolled for the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 school years.
Our Lady of Mercy High School will be formally dedicated by
Archbishop John F. Donoghue in December.
For information about Our Lady of Mercy High School call (770)
461-2202. |
